When compared with the academic article the Mail story was based on, you see that none of those claims are correct. “Suffice it to say, the academic paper is not about cannabis, smoking or schizophrenia,” Bishop wrote.

Below is Bishops’s annotated copy of the original story (items in red are three-point errors, two-pointers are in orange, and one-pointers are in blue):

And here is what makes this article such a prime candidate for the Orwellian Award: this is not about a hyped press release by a university, or misunderstanding of complex science. It’s not even about sensationalising a scientific finding to draw readers in. No, this is about using a scientific paper as a prop in the Daily Mail’s anti-cannabis campaign … When reporting research, no respect is given to the truth: scientists are simply used to bolster a preconceived opinion, and if they don’t do that, their findings are distorted.